When does player emotion go too far during a game? Many times players are seen beating their chests after making a shot, posing after a dunk, yelling or engaging in a stare-down with another player after a good play. A lot of players say that it motivates them and gets them focused when they let their emotions loose during a game. For one game, it can be understood but would that emotion help them over a span of a week or two? specifically when a team has a back to back set of games or a tough road trip versus several good teams. Most important over that emotional high would be the athlete’s preparation for that week (plenty of rest, good practice, good shoot around). In the end, in a professional basketball league, when each player is just as talented as the other, emotional highs ‘cancel each other out’. What is left is how focused and prepared a player is to adjust to the ebbs and flows of momentum during a game.

For fans watching a game, a player showing his emotions is no different than how they would act on a local court during a pickup game. Or during a night out with friends watching the game at a local bar. But for how many fans, it happens that in the span of five minutes they will cheer a great shot from a player to only boo and yell at the television when the same player makes a turnover, a bad shot or plays bad defense. This major shift in emotion is great for a fan sitting at home, but can be disastrous for a professional athlete during a season. The emotional swings will kill a player’s game and focus. The point is, and this is especially important for young players and rookies is that–basketball is your job. Your shots, defensive assignment and playbook are part of your ‘list of things to do today’. Practice is like being ‘at the office’ and the game is ‘selling the finished product’.